Vid: Middleman

[bop_radar]

I really should be holding on to this to post as part of my character study challenge, but you know how it is... you work on something for months, getting nowhere, and then finally get so frakking sick of it you just have to post it NOW, dammit! And be done with it.

Title: Middleman
Artist: Bright Eyes
Fandom: Battlestar Galactica
Character: Lee

Comments

[daybreak777]

Yay Lee! It's interesting that you post this as I was going through our old posts last night and remembering how you could always explain Lee to me.

This vid is different than other Lee vids as it doesn't seem to focus on one period of time or season. The music is interesting too, it very faintly reminds me of "Wander My Friends." Makes Lee seem like an old-time hero. An old-time reluctant warrior. You may not have wanted the heroism there but it's there to me.

The first moment that got me was the salute after the funerals in Act of Contrition. That moment always gets to me. Then there was the focus on objects which I love. Jacob over at TWOP once wrote after Captain's Hand, "Well, she had her perspective," Lee smiles, looking down at the watch. "And I had mine." Maybe Apollo's just like that. Maybe he needs stuff he can hold and think about for the symbolism to sink in. I could buy that.”

Never is that so much in evidence as here. From the lighter to the Olympic Carrier note, to books, his commander pins, his wedding ring, to Kara's picture. Lee does need to touch these things sometimes. They mean something to him. Even Romo got that.

Then there are the times in the video when he is 'in between'. I hadn't realized Lee was so lost. Really, by the end the season 3, I felt he had found himself. But there he was in between Laura and Tigh, Baltar and Romo, Kara and Dee. I hadn’t quite seen it that way before. I'm not sad because I think he's in the process of making his way past that. But what a good look at where he's been and who Lee is now. Wish Kara could watch this video!

Off to add it to my Lee vid recs list! And thank you Bop, for always explaining Lee. :-)

(I wrote this before I read your notes so you could get my honest reaction. I think you’re too hard on yourself, it’s a lovely video. A bit disquieting and melancholy but that’s where Lee was. And you’re too hard on Lee (or he's too hard on himself). He hasn't completely failed. I hope he finds his way out of the emptiness and that there are some true guideposts ahead. I hope. And you know what? Lee is becoming his own guidepost. For the fleet, for Kara, and for himself.)

[bop_radar]

Hi DB! Thank you so much for watching! You have written such a thoughtful response too. :)

I did try to make this about Lee across all three seasons--and boy, I had no idea just how hard that was going to be when I set out to make it! I see why others focus on particular periods!

Makes Lee seem like an old-time hero. An old-time reluctant warrior.
That's fascinating! I had no idea--I'm way too close to this vid to be able to see it objectively.

I think Jacob's right with: Maybe Apollo's just like that. Maybe he needs stuff he can hold and think about for the symbolism to sink in. That's something I definitely explored in the vid--it's not as obvious maybe, as Kara's statues of her gods. Lee's 'gods' are more abstract and more open to shifting interpretations but he definitely needs his touchstones. The fact that Kara's one of them makes life a lot harder for him. I know some people found Romo nicking stuff from people gimmicky, but I think that's one reason Lee and he really connected--that attention to detail and the ability to hone in precisely on what is integral to a person is something Lee would be impressed by and also would relate to.

Then there are the times in the video when he is 'in between'. I hadn't realized Lee was so lost.
He's very lost. It's just there's a massive disconnect between his public persona (confident leader, at times expressing self-righteous anger) and his inner 'self' which at times lacks direction to the point of self-destructive nihilism.

Wish Kara could watch this video!
Ha! What would it change for her if she did, do you think?

[daybreak777]

That's fascinating! I had no idea--I'm way too close to this vid to be able to see it objectively.
Hee, you are a bit too close to it! One day someone should write meta on that. The artist's relationship to their work. It's like how one feels about their child almost, so proud and invested and full of love and criticism all at once. Or maybe that's just Adama. :-)

Yeah, Lee reminds me of an old gunslinger. Even though he's pretty young, all this responsibility has aged him. It's like he wanted to retire, hang up his guns (ooh, symbols) and just build a bar saloon. But he keeps getting pulled back in for one more last fight.

I think this is why I didn't realize that Lee was so lost. It was there, of course, but like the objects and what they represented, he kept getting pulled back in. By loyalty, by duty, love, honor. Laura, Zarek, Kara, Adama, Romo. So rather than seeing the despair, I saw the action despite it. Sort of like when someone is so depressed they don't want to get out of bed anymore. They feel, why bother? But they have a job or a kid or something or someone who counts on them and they pull themselves out of it a little, just hanging on, because they have to. That's Lee.

And I'll admit, as you know, I love when Lee takes action! So in characterizing him, I chose to focus this positive action, like in Captain's Hand, rather than the despair, as in Resurrection Ship. And I'm a bit shallow, I found his self-righteous anger kind of attractive. And it would sometimes spark off Kara or Adama or Sam and well, damn!

What would it change for her if she did, do you think?
Kara? She has a ways to go before understanding Lee no matter how many videos she could hypothetically watch. But I think she has a sense of who Lee really is, kind of instinctively. The fact that he can be restrained and not always act on his feelings probably make her think that he's better than she is. She doesn't see that he's lost and how tethered he is to all of them, including her. She's too lost herself. But when she comes out it, he'll be there. And when she grows up a bit, she'll realize she's one of the few who truly can 'get' him. He needs her. And she'll be there.

You've gone and made me all wibbly! But watching vids of Lee and trying to write him a little myself has helped immensely in my reading of him. I can't wait to watch the actual show with this perspective!

[bop_radar]

It's like he wanted to retire, hang up his guns (ooh, symbols) and just build a bar saloon
Hahaha, doesn't his character bible say he once wanted to be a chef?! *lol*

they have a job or a kid or something or someone who counts on them and they pull themselves out of it a little, just hanging on, because they have to. That's Lee.
Exactly! I think a lot of people were shocked by Lee's depression arc in late season 2, but I think it was there all the time, and I've often argued that the kind of self-critical thinking that can be part of depression has always been an aspect of Lee's psyche. But being constantly made aware of mortality (and humanity's fragility) wears him down. It's just that he keeps on fighting most of the time anyway.

I'm a bit shallow, I found his self-righteous anger kind of attractive.
*loves you* Hell, yeah! ;)

I can't wait to watch the actual show with this perspective!
Hee! Yeah, it will be fun... such a long wait though!

[daybreak777]

Did I make up the bar thing? Or is it fanon? He definitely promised Racetrack a bar in LDYB. And they built one!

*loves you* Hell, yeah!
I knew it wasn't just me! But it's interesting, I find his action more attractive than his looks sometimes. But who am I kidding, his looks certainly don't hurt! ;-) *hugs you back for continued Lee interpretation*

Hee! Yeah, it will be fun... such a long wait though!
Shh . . . don't say the "H" word.

[bop_radar]

I reckon the bar thing is fanon. Originally the concept for TABFAYW was to have Lee build the bar. How he could have fit that in along with all the angst, I really don't know. ;-p